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The study found there was a statistically significant relationship between an area’s wealth and the number of sports facilities.

The trend gives weight to claims that some poorer people are being locked out of sport.

Sport England is the government body responsible for growing sport participation in England. They publish a data on the location and details of every sport complex in the country.

“People living in deprived areas are less likely to be physically active"

A spokesperson for national children’s charity the Youth Sport Trust, said: “People living in deprived areas are less likely to be physically active and yet are among the most in need of the transformative power of sport and play to improve their health, wellbeing and life chances.

“Much more needs to be done to remove barriers to sport and play and ensure that people are not deprived of opportunities based on their gender, ability, background or where they live.

“It is vital that programmes to raise levels of activity are targeted at those most in need.

“Last year YST worked with more than 20,000 schools including over 1,500 in the most deprived areas of England, to ensure that every young person can enjoy the life-changing benefits of sport and play.”